A request by the Nova Scotia Teachers Union to have the Minister of Labour convene a conciliation board has been withdrawn.
NSTU President Liette Doucet says the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development placed conditions on how the process would unfold.
She says the province has no authority to set those conditions.
#NSTUPrez @lsdoucet in a scrum @CBCNews @globalhalifax “We want collective bargaining, not conditional bargaining” pic.twitter.com/6Jn0FW0ggK
— NS Teachers Union (@NSTeachersUnion) November 1, 2016
In a letter to Doucet from Education Minister Karen Casey, the minister says wages are capped by the Public Services Sustainability Mandate.
And the union would have to find savings somewhere else to get a raise.
But she says, government is open to discussing all issues related to working conditions.
As well, the Service Award/Death benefit would be frozen and no other benefits would be introduced.
Doucet says the union believes the government is pushing them into a strike position.
